JOPLIN, Mo. - University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Cross Country persevered through the heat Friday at the Missouri Southern Stampede to place ninth and 12^th, respectively. 

The women scored 313 points in their ninth-place finish, led by Hailey Malik in 32^nd in a time of 19:29.10. Zoe Nesbitt followed in 53^rd with a time of 20:19.97, while Madison Thurston rounded out the top three for the Lions in 65^th with a time of 20:57.74.

Pacing each other to complete the scoring for the Lions, Jennifer Martinez finished in 80^th in 21:28.59, Cecilia Perez took 83^rd in 21:34.40, Quincy Efurd was 86^th in 21:41.65 and Annabella Tedder was 89^th in 21:45.63.

"The ladies executed the race plan exactly how we drew it up," head coach Mason Rhodes said. "We knew we had the heat to deal with, so the goal was to be relaxed through the first half and then try to beat as many runners as possible, and we walked away with a victory over a conference school and three regional schools."

Tyreek Gilkey paced the men's 12-place finish with a time of 28:38.64 as he finished 68^th. Conner Valentine next crossed the line in 77^th in 28:49.33 while Adan Castillo placed 85^th in 29:15.93.

The fourth runner to cross the line for the Lions was Troy Ferguson in 89^th with a time of 29:19.76, with Luke Bledsoe rounding out the top five in 104^th in 29:52.02. Isaac Teague and Vincent Gonzales completed the scoring seven for UAFS with finishes of 106^th and 123^rd, respectively. Teague finished in 29:55.32 and Gonzales in 30:55.29.

"Our men went out and handled the challenges of both the heat and the first 8k of the season in stride," Rhodes said. " We have many young and new faces on the team bouncing around the finishing order, but what will give us success at the end of the season is how close they all finished together."

Up next for the Lions is the Chile Pepper Festival September 28 in Fayetteville.